Animal processing for meat products is an area in which microbiological control is of vital importance. By the very nature of the processing involved there are numerous opportunities for the live animals to be exposed to various pathogens in the form of mobile bacteria. The thought of handling, processing and consuming bacteria-infested meat is revolting in the extreme. Furthermore, new government rules and standards require that additional attention be paid to both production and processing areas to assure reduced contamination of consumer meat.
Heretofore certain halogen-containing compositions have been proposed for use as additives to animal drinking water as a potential way of reducing bacterial activity. For example U.S. Pat. No. 4,822,512 describes tests in which a formulation composed of 1.5 parts of sodium chloride, 50 parts of potassium persulfate triple salt, 5 parts of sulfamic acid, 10 parts of malic acid, 18.5 parts of sodium hexametaphosphate and 15 parts of sodium dodecylbenzene was added to drinking water for poultry and day-old chicks. As to the results of these tests, the patent reports only that as compared to a control group the birds and chicks given this formulation gained more weight. In a paper published in Poultry Science, 1982, 61, 1968-1971, Mora, Kohl, Wheatley, Worley, Faison, Burkett, and Bodor report results of studies in which 15-day old broilers were given untreated drinking water or water treated with 200 ppm of 3-chloro-4,4-dimethyl-2-oxazolidinone (CDO). The authors concluded that during the 8-week period of the tests no significant differences were noted in the amounts of food or water consumed, that no statistically significant differences were seen between the weights of the test groups and their respective controls, and that no significant gross differences in internal organs were observed that could be attributed to the ingestion of the CDO. More recently, U.S. Pat. No. 6,099,855 teaches administration via drinking water to baby chicks and to 6-week-old male and female broilers infected with Salmonella typhimurium of pH-buffered redox-stabilized compositions comprising halide and oxyhalide ions. See also related U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,830,511; and 6,004,587. A product of this type, viz., Aquatize® biocide (Bioxy Incorporated) is believed to be a composition of this type.
One ubiquitous source of microbial contamination in animal processing is animal fecal matter. It would be of considerable benefit if a highly effective way could be found of reducing the bacterial content of animal fecal matter.